Duke Nukem 3D

After 12 years, Duke still kicks ass. He may not be as good looking as he used to be but he continues to prove that the adage - its not the graphics that make a game great, its the gameplay - will always be true.

How well this game has aged is truly a testament to the series. It’s only regrettable that we may never get a true sequel to one of the most iconic entries in gaming history.

Greatness. The one-liners and parodies are still funny, the level design is outstanding. [Nov 2008, p.64]

Yet another classic release that makes a wonderful conversion onto Xbox Live Arcade. Some might be put off by its convoluted, old school level design and predictably unattractive appearance but there’s no doubt that it’s one of the fathers of the most popular genre in our industry.

The King is back in this new rendition of the classic PC game. 3D Realms brings Duke Nuken 3D to Xbox 360 with new gameplay elements that make the adventure more interesting and also an extremely funny multiplayer that reminds us of classics like Unreal Tournament or Counter Strike. It’s been around for 12 years, but this is still a must have for just 800 Microsoft Points.

Its Duke, he is still a bad ass and in the end this version rivals the original with its 8 player Co-op and we finally get a FPS with some cool weapons again. So buy this game… now… and GET SOME!

Thankfully, while some of its design decisions are more than a little frustrating, it remains a brilliantly entertaining first-person shooter and probably deserves more credit for helping to shape the genre than it has been given. It's a shame the online modes aren't more compelling, but having spent two blissfully nostalgic days battling through the single player campaign, I'm happy to consider it 800 points well spent.

Gamers that played, and liked, the original know what to do: start downloading! Duke Nukem 3D on Xbox Live Arcade is the perfect port, with no expense spared. The extra multiplayer options and the replay function even make up for the high difficulty setting.

But more importantly, the developers at 3D Realms (yes, the original devs did this port instead of working on something else, ahem) added a few features to bring the experience up to date without severely affecting the core gameplay.

There’s no getting away from the fact that Duke Nukem has gotten on a bit, and he’s already been around the block a few times on several other systems. Still, as a trip down memory lane or an insight into a key period of FPS development, the Live Arcade version is just about worth the admission price.

Duke is back and he's still out of bubble gum. Come get some.

Just don't play it for extended periods on a big telly - I'm not predisposed to game-induced motion sickness (I've never gotten it before) and Duke makes me want to hurl if I play it too long.

You could do a lot worse with your Microsoft Points than to pick it up.

The smartest dumb game on Xbox Live. [Dec 2008, p.101]

I'd be lying if I said that Duke Nukem 3D is as good today as it ever was, but it hasn't aged at all badly, and it can teach modern first-person shooters a thing or two about level design and plain fun.

Duke Nukem 3D demonstrates that shooters haven´t changed so much from the 90s. Its graphics have aged as badly as its age indicates, but its gameplay is so crazy and funny that it´s still a great title. After all, this is a classic videogame, and the classics should have a place in the collection of every good player.

There's no denying thta Duke's level design was pioneering at the time, however, its humour is just as open to chauvinistic interpretation as it always was. [Issue#39]